The Goldfinch

I've been on the waiting list for Donna Tartt's newest book The Goldfinch for several weeks.  Got it downloaded yesterday morning and began reading right away.  I was taken by her descriptive sentences, but got the point where I just wanted her to 'get on with it.'  VERY descriptive to the point of craziness.  She writes just like a person (any ol' person) would write who was putting down on paper every single thought that passed through their head.  Every single one.  The dust on the windowsill, and the water droplets that travel down the pane of glass, not to mention every living thing seen beyond the window...what they're wearing and what they might be thinking about at that particular moment (my examples, not hers).  And I'm a person who adores detail.  But I also enjoy reading a story, and if a book is so taken with detail that they delay telling the tale, then I lose interest. With Tartt there is no control.  Every object and emotion is scrutinized thoroughly.

Consider this too...I'm not a talker in real life, but she's a talker in a book sense.  Lots of words.  Lots of thoughts.  Lots of stuff coming into my head, and while a little of it can be good, I was overwhelmed.  Maybe at another time I could read it, but just not now.

After awhile I got to where I was skipping forward, and really didn't want to read it like that.  I mean, I was on a waiting list for weeks.  Should've realized I wasn't a Tartt fan after I tried to read another of her books and the sheer size of it put me off.  She's the Kevin Costner of fiction.  He's the fan of long, drawn-out movies...and says he loved those types of films as a child....the long epics.  Tartt is an epic-writer.

And while as a Southerner, I do appreciate that she's from down here, I have a life and really can't spare the time to read her books.  Wish I could, but just can't.  And with this one having an artwork link...sounds dishy, but just not for me.  So sad.

But, shoot...this book could probably be edited to at least two-thirds of its present size and retain every darn bit of its integrity.  Truly don't think book editing is done like it was in the olden days.  And, yes, I am a believer in 'less is more.'  Besides if you tell the reader everything you want them to know, they don't have to think at all, and in reading, at least for me, a little mystery is a good thing.  Lets you be part of the story, and not just the observer.  There, I've said enough.